Letters for Tuesday, July 8, 2014

• Candidate signs an unnecessary distraction • Feral cat population targeted more than others • Population awareness is a must • Judge rules courtroom 

Candidate signs an unnecessary distraction

Michael Mann’s comments (TGI, June 29) about highway sign waving has inspired me to comment on yet another sacrosanct institution … indiscriminate placement of signs for the candidate of your choice. Witness the corner of Kaumaualii Highway and Anonui Street. What a distraction. What a mess. Do any of those candidates think they have made a positive statement in their behalf? Are there rules that govern the placement of so many signs in such a small area? Where’s the sanity? I know it’s tradition, but it’s really ugly. And please don’t tell me to go back from whence I came.

Michael Diamant, Koloa

Feral cat population targeted more than others

It seems the local “powers that be,” for some reason, have it in for cats. This is clearly evidenced by their recent actions including a “coincidental” release of a video showing feral cats attacking native birds. More importantly, one must ask, why cats? Why not feral chickens, feral dogs, feral pigs or feral goats — the list goes on. 

I believe these other feral animals likely cause as much or more harm than cats. I know feral and unleased dogs are a threat to the Laysan albatross. This disdain for cats is also illustrated in the recent cat licensing program initiated by the county and the Kauai Humane Society. Anyone who knows cats understands that cats don’t like collars or anything else attached to them. They normally just won’t tolerate this. Hence, how is one going to know if a cat is licensed, a pet or in fact a feral cat? I guess our leaders feel rats and mice are OK, as when the cat population is reduced, the rat and mice population increases. I also expect the feral chicken population will increase as well as I suspect cats do eat the feral chicken eggs, and in some cases, the chicks.

I support the spay and neuter program and other measures to control but not eliminate the cats on our island. However, thus far, all the proposals seem draconian in nature with a major emphasis on euthanasia. Finally, one would hope that we would have learned not to mess with Mother Nature. Remember the great idea to bring in the mongoose to control rats? Another not very bright idea.

John Gordon, Princeville 

Population awareness is a must

July 11 is World Population Day. 

Every day, the population of our little planet grows by 227,000 humans. When I was a kid, there were 2 billion of us. Now there are 7.3 billion. Humans have not been kind or loving at sharing with nature. In fact, we have completely overrun the Earth and our ocean. We humans have brought cats, rats, miconia, tree ferns, cows, hotels, houses, roads and traffic to our little island. We’ve taken most of the fish and we have turned most farms into huge factories. There has been little concern for the generations to come. We are handing over our planet, full of dangerous poisons and trash, to our children and grandchildren. Please, teach your kids about sex early. Family size should be planned thoughtfully. Plan it for your family. Plan it for the planet.

Gordon LaBedz, Kekaha

Judge rules courtroom 

In a recent letter to The Garden Island newspaper, Richard Laue said Judge Kathleen Watanabe had very little to do with the case where the father disciplined his son by forcing him to walk a mile to his home. That is pure horse manure. 

A judge should be the boss in a trial. She controls what goes on in the trial. At any point in this trial, Kathleen Watanabe could have said, “This case doesn’t belong in a court of law. Case dismissed. Next case.”

The Kauai police, Kauai prosecutor and Judge Watanabe all displayed a lack of common sense. A lack of common sense must be a job requirement for all county and state jobs, don’t you think?

Jerry Sokugawa, Kekaha